Automatic alarm apparatus



AUTOMATIC ALARM APPARATUS.

No. 340,441. Patented Apnzo', 1386.

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UNTTnn STATES .PATENT Ormea.

CHARLES L. HORACK, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

AUTOMATIC ALARM APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340.441, dated April 20, 1886.

Application filed December 22, 1884. Serial No. 150,938. (No model.)

'b all 'Lu/wm, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. HORACK, a citizen of t-he United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Alarm Apparatus, of which the following is a speciication. y

This invention relates to automatic alarm apparatus, and particularly to such as are made operative by electrical instrumentalities; and it is adapted for .use with {ire-extinguishing systems, lire-alarm systems, and burglar-alarm systems.

My invention is primarily designed for use in connection with an automatic system for the extinguishment of tires in factories, warehouses, dwellings, Stc., and hence will usually be connected with a watersupply under pressure.

It has for its object the production of an alarm apparatus employing as an element an electric battery, which is adapted to be alitomatically made operative, as the occasion for utilizing the electrical energy arises.

It has also for its object the production of an apparatus combining` in its organization simple yet effective means, whereby, upon the opening of the devices which restrain the discharge ofthe fluid supply-due to 'the flising ofthe solder-connections of one or more automatic sprinklers, for instance, or the accidental or malicious opening of the same-an electric battery will be instantly completed, thus creating an electrical current, which, through suitable circuits, aiiects an annunciator mechanism, thereby sounding an alarm.

Its further object is to produce an alarm apparatus which combines the last-mentioned features and a construction whereby the detrimental effects of Water-hammer upon the alarm mechanism islargely if not wholly overcome. The electrical circuit may extend to an annunciator mechanism located within the building to be protected, 01 at a central station, police headquarters, or tire-alarm station, or may communicate with both local and distant stations, and in the latter case the alarm may loe announced simultaneously at the local and Any ofthe well-known systems for accomplishing this object may be em- `leakage or unusual evaporation.

ployed, none being illustrated in this instance,

because the scope of my present invention does not embrace such features, it being understood that the wires shown in the drawings are parts of a circuit within which, at any convenient place, any of the Well-known annnnciator mechanisms may be arranged.

My apparatus is shown arranged in connection with a pipe system adapted to be supplied with water from the street-main or other source of water under pressure. It may, however, be connected to a tank or tanks, from which theautomatic sprinklers of the pipe system are supplied, and when so employed it may serve, in addition to the uses above speciiied,to indicate any material diminution ot" the water in the tank or tanks due to accidental In this use of my apparatus the fact that an alarm is not given is satisfactory assurance that the tanks relied upon to supply the extinguishing-duid inthe event of a tire are in good condition an properly charged with water.

The invention is equally applicable to eX- tinguishing systems employing water or iiuid chemicals.

In fire-extinguishing systems alarm mechanisms are serviceable,both to indicate the existence of tires and the premature or accidental discharge ofthe extinguishing-duid, as oftentimes very disastrous losses `are due solely to the latter cause.

The features of novelty for which I desire protection in this instance are pointed out in the claims at the end of this description.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this description, Figure l is a sectional elevation of an apparatus.embodying my invention as applied to the pipes of a fireextinguishing system. Fig. 2 is a partly sectional side elevation at right angles to the view shown in Fig. 1. Referring to the drawings, in which like parts are indicated by like letters, C represents the valve-casing, which is preferably of the form shown, having in this instance the. pocket a and the inlet and outlet branches ac. I have shown the casing constructed in two parts, which are joined together by bolts at a3. I represents the water-supply pipe, which leads from the street-main or other source of ICO of automatic sprinklers. These pipes are connected to the branches a a2 by bolts a4, or by any means for securing a suitable Vjoint be-f.

tween the parts.

b is the stufling-box, formed by the projection at the bottom of the valve-casing and gland b. Any suitable packing may beused in stuffing-box b.

V is the valve, which is hollow, and which has confined within its hollowportion the iioat F, which is nearly of the same speciiic gravity as water, and by preference elastic. Said valve is provided with waterfpassages o o, for the purpose hereinafter explained. The seatingsurl'ace ot' the valve rests on the outlet branch a', as shown. The valve-stem S passes through the stufngbox b, and is guided and packed thereby in an obvious manner.

To the lower end of the valve-stem S is pivoted the link L, which passes around the lower part of the lever Y, (here shown constructed as a yoke,) the extremity of the stem S resting in a slight groove or depression in the lever, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l. The upper part of the lever Y is formed of two parallel bars, B B', and there is located between said bars the weight WV, which normally, bel'ore the valve has left its seat, rests on a short plane, as shown, either level or sloping downward to the right. When the lever Y has assumed a certain amount ot' motion, due to the moving ot' the valve away from its seat under the pressure of the water, as hereinafter explained, the weight NV will move to the left, between the bars B B', until it comes to rest between the opposite ends of the parallel bars. The lever Y is pivoted at w to lugs l, projecting from the casing C. Around this pivot the lever swings as the valve moves downward. The spring Pis confined by the projection p on the casing and a pin on the lever Y, all as plainly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The l'unciion of this spring is to assist the weight WV in overcoming the tendency of the waterpressure to force the valve V from its seat during severe waterhammer within the source ot' water-supply and before actual discharge of water in the Sprinkler system takes place.

While spring P may be serviceable under some conditions, it is not absolutely essential to my invention, and it may therefore be entirely omitted in p raclice.

Q represents an outlet in the valve-casing, closed by a screwthreaded plug, and which communicates with the pocket a in the lower part ofsaid casing. The purpose of this outlet is to enable the said pocket to be emptied of mud or other sedimentary matter which may be contained in the water.

lt will be observed that the lower part of the lever Y is of peculiar conformation, itbeing made so to better adapt it to assist in performing its functions in the organization of which it forms a part. y K

[In the organization shown in Figs. l and 2 my valve mechanism is connected by a link, x, to a cell forming or being part of an electric battery, (it being obvious that more than one cell `might be -uscd for this purpose.) The link may be composed ol suitable non-conducting material, or properly insulated Where it comes in contact with the metallic lever Y. D represents one of the well-known forms of cells in electric batteries, any type of which might be used in connection with my apparatus'. G is the electrolyte, or the compound which is decomposed by electrical action, and E E2 are the electrodes or the elements constituting the poles of the battery, that pole which is the least atfected by the acid being made stationary in this construction-as, for example, E being the negative pole and of zinc, and E2 the positive pole and ot' carbon. The electrode E is attached tothe movable metallic stem c, which passes through an opening in the detachable top H of the cell D. As shown, the top H is secured by screwthreads, but any other` means of fastening the same in place may be used. The electrode E2 is attached to the stationary 'metallic stein e2, which also passes through an opening in the top H, as shown. The carbon E2 is thus in this form of the apparatus constantly immersed in the acid G.

The letter r indicates an elastic collar, made ot' rubber, for instance, which surrounds the ICO stem e', to prevent evaporation of the electrol lyte G.

u/-w'l are the wires formingv the circuit between the positive and negative poles of the battery, and which circuit may, as already stated, include annunciator mechanism, either in the building or in distant stations, or in both.

In Fig. 1 the connection between the valve mechanism and the battery is made by the link x, which joins the extreme left-'hand end of the lever Yto the stem c. It has been explained that there should be proper insulating substance between the link w and the lever Y, or that the link should itself be a non-conductor.

The electrode E' might be connected to any other part of the lever Y, or directly to the lower part of the valve-stem S. I prefer to attach it, as shown, to the extreme left hand end of the lever, because this plan possesses obvious advantages, as the lever with its fulcruui at pivot w permits considerably more motion to the lefthand end of the parallel-bars B B than to any other part of the lever, and a greater degree ot' motion than it is possible to derive from the downward movement of the valve-stem S. The effectiveness of the electric battery is thus increased, since the whole surl'ace ot' the electrode E is immersed with the downward movement of the rod or stem e; whereas, if the attachment were at any other part of the lever, .or to the valvev stem, the decrease in motion would be an ob' stacle to the immersion 0f even the larger portion of the said electrode.

In the operation of the apparatus shown in Fig. l, when ordinary Water-hammer takes place in the system without actual discharge of water, equilibrium on both sides of the valve V will be maintained by means of the water-passages o o. Very considerable waterhammer, or the discharge of the fluid in the extinguisher system, will carry the iloat F (which,as stated, is nearly of the same specic gravity as water and which shouldl preferably be made elastic, in order that it may with more certainty close the openings o o) downward until it closes the water-passages o o. The whole body of the valve will then receive downward pressure, which will be transferred to the lever Y by means of the stem S; but the spring P and weight W, both being on the right-hand side of the pivot w at the beginning of this movement of the valve, will resist the motion of the valve and have a tendency to force it against its seat, and will reseat it if it has only barely left its seat. ward movement of the valve, its stem imparts sufficient motion to the yoke or lever Y to give momentum to the weight W and move it off the short plane upon which it normally rests, enabling it to pass to the extreme left end of the lever Y, the resistance which tended to hold the valve to its seat will have been suiciently overcome, and the complete opening thereof Will thus be insured and the Water-supply fully turned on. In this movement of the lever it is obvious that the electric battery shown in Fig. lis completed as the stem e', which is connected to the electrode E', is carried down by the downward movement of the left-hand end of the lever, and the said electrode thereby immersed in the electrolyte G.

It is to be understood that the lever or yoke mechanism is capable of being automatically operated when connected to means other than the valve mechanism shown-as, for instance, when connected to any of the well-known forms of lire or burglar alarms which do not depend upon fluid-pressure for their action.

It will also be understood that any of the1 well-known mechanical alarm mechanismssuch as gongs, steam-whistles, &c..-might be applied iu proper relation to any part of the lever Y, or to the lower end of the valve-stem S, and successfully operated by the motion of these parts. 1

The stem S, which serves to impart the motion of the valve V to the lever Y, is practically a prolongation of the lower part of the `valve, and therefore the operation of the apparatus is the same as if the valve were made to act directly upon the lever.

Vhen. owing to the down-A lever Y,and connections between the valve and the lever, whereby a movement of the Valve actuates the lever, incombination with the movable weight WV, which is guided on the lever, the spring P, and alarm mechanism actuated by said lever, substantially as set forth.

3. In an automatic alarm apparatus, the perforated straightway valve V, containing the float F, substantially as set forth.

4. In an automatic alarm apparatus, the perforated straightway valveV,containing the float F, in combination with the lever Y,valvestem S, and an alarm mechanism operated by the lever, substantially as set forth.

5. In an automatic alarm apparatus, the perforated straightway valve V, containing the oatF, in combination with the lever Y, valvestem S, movable weight W, and an alarm mechanism operated by the lever,substantially as set forth.

6. In an automatic alarm apparatus, the straightway perforated valve V, containing the float F, in combination with the lever Y,valve^ stem S, movable weight W, spring P, and an alarm mechanism operated by the lever, substantially as set forth.

7. In an automatic alarm apparatus, the straightway valve V, having water-passages 0, in combination with the elastic float F, substantially as set forth.

8. rIlhe straightway valve V and valve-stem S, in combination with the lever Y, link L, and alarm mechanism actuated by said lever,l

substantially as set forth.

9. The automatic alarm-casing C, having a pocket, a, in the lower part thereof, and a closable outlet in said pocket, substantially as set forth.

10. The valve-.casing C, provided with lugs Z and stuffing-box b at its lower part, in combination with t-he stem S, pivoted lever Y, and alarm mechanism actuated by said lever, substantiall y as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New IOO IIS

York and State of New York, this 19th day of December, A. D. 1881.

CEAS. L. HORACK.

Witnesses:

J. E. M. BOWEN, HUGO KOELKER. 

